Listen to the Band
by meowloudly15
Summary: Luna gets an invitation to join a band. Tension ensues. Rated T for language. Cover image is from The Loud House Wiki.
1. The Invitation

**NB: Hi, this is meowloudly15 at the helm. How are you doing?**

 **I guess you can tell how unoriginal I am, if you've seen my previous story, which is a rewrite of another fanfic. I know that this story concept is not new, but I just wanted to post my personal take on the issue at hand.**

 **So here you go! I hope you enjoy it!**

 **Quick note: Words in italics are a character's thoughts. Bold words are my author's notes.**

 **DISCLAIMER: The Loud House and all related characters belong to Nickelodeon, not to me.**

* * *

Chapter 1

Luna stared at the clock for the twenty-eighth time that period. There were still twenty minutes left until chemistry ended, and forty-five minutes after that until school ended for the day. Those twenty minutes could just as well have been twenty hours, considering the dullness of the titration lab she was performing.

Luna turned her head back to the burette, which dripped another drop of hydrochloric acid into the Erlenmeyer flask below. She sighed heavily.

"I can't wait for this god**** class to end," she muttered to herself.

Her lab partner, a short, skinny blond boy named Chris, said, "Language!"

Luna grumbled, "**** off."

Concerned, Chris turned to her and asked, "What's wrong?"

Ignoring Chris, Luna picked up a pipette and stirred the mixture in the Erlenmeyer flask. There was still no change in colour. She sighed again.

Chris pulled Luna around to face him. "Will you please listen to me?" he inquired kindly.

Luna responded, "Don't worry about it, dude. I'm all good; I'm just bored."

Chris remarked, "Aren't we all." He let go of her shoulder, turning back to the burette, and she slumped back onto the table.

Luna pondered over her recent behaviour as she absent-mindedly stirred the mixture. She remembered how she had snapped at some of her friends at lunch and how she had been more short-tempered than usual with her family. _Why am I acting like this?_

 _Maybe it's because of Sam._

After writing her an anonymous love letter two weeks ago, Luna had nearly forgotten about her crush on Sam. Even though she sat with her every day during lunch, she still thought of Sam too much as a friend to become infatuated with her. But two days ago, Sam mentioned the letter during conversation.

"I wonder if my secret admirer is ever gonna write me again. I mean, he didn't leave a forwarding address," she had joked.

Luna had replied, "Sad, bro. With that letter, I guess you can't 'Return to Sender'!" She then began to sing the song. Sam had laughed.

 _Sam has an awesome laugh,_ Luna thought. She sighed nostalgically.

She was startled out of her reverie by Chris, who said, "Luna! The color just changed!"

Luna sat upright, nearly knocking over the flask, which was filled with a pale pink liquid. "Oh! Sorry about that!" she apologised.

Chris reached over and closed off the burette. Luna peered over at it and recorded the amount of acid left. They then started filling out their worksheet, pausing occasionally to punch numbers into their calculators.

Preoccupied with her work, Luna stopped daydreaming until she and Chris had turned in their worksheets shortly before the end of the period.

 _Maybe I should tell her how I feel..._

 _Nah._

 _Should I write her another letter?_ Luna started pondering letter ideas until the bell rang. She got out of her seat and walked out the door.

As she walked to P. E. class, a tall, brown-haired junior approached her from behind.

"Hey Luna! Got a moment?" he said.

Luna turned around and replied, "Hey, Jamie! Yeah, I'm fine. What's up?"

"So you know how I lost my band's lead guitarist to college?"

Luna and Jamie began to walk down the hall together.

"Yeah, why?"

"So I was wondering if you wanted to join up?"

Luna grinned. "Totally, dude! I'm always willing to help out a friend in need, especially if it involves music!"

Jamie chuckled. "A'right! So we got a practice coming up tomorrow, right after school. Here, I got the address of the place written down for you." He pressed a folded index card into her hand. "Just come on down and bring your axe, and we can all get to rocking!"

Luna turned down a hall towards the girls' locker room. "Sounds cool! Thanks for the invite, dude!"

Jamie waved and replied, "You're welcome!" He walked into another classroom.

Luna read the address written on the card. _854 Franklin Ave? That's just a couple blocks down the street from my place. I could walk there after school, so I wouldn't need to take a different bus over._

She shoved the card into her pocket, then paused for a second, having just recalled something.

 _Jamie is in Sam's band._

She practically skipped all the way down to the locker room, a massive grin on her face.

* * *

 **If you caught the subtle Marvel reference, congratulations! If you didn't, don't worry. (HINT: Think _Age of Ultron_ ) If you have no idea what Marvel is, I'm not judging you, but seriously? I encourage you to watch the movies. They're hilarious.**

 **Remember the brown-haired rocker guy from the episode L is for Love? That's Jamie. You'll meet the other girl from that episode soon enough. (I wanted to work them into my story because I felt that since they appeared in "L Is for Love", they should warrant an appearance in a Luna/Sam story.)**

 **I hope you've enjoyed the story so far. I know, it's probably really bad, since this is only my second story and my first original one. (I am not fishing for compliments.) Well, if you have any tips for me, let me know! I appreciate constructive criticism!**

 **See you soon!**


	2. Excitement!

**Hi, I'm back! I'm glad you're back, too, since that means that you didn't hate my story too much. Here's some more story for you!**

* * *

Chapter 2

Daydreaming is not a safe activity to participate in while playing softball.

Luna found that out the hard way. Literally.

She was fantasizing about how she would profess her love for Sam after shredding some sick riffs for the umpteenth time when the softball (a rather misleading name) slammed into her forehead.

Luna fell to the ground in pain. Coach Armstrong ran over to her from the pitching mound. He knelt down next to her and asked her, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Coach," replied Luna, wincing. "I'll be fine. Just give me a moment."

Coach Armstrong helped her to her feet, then said, "I'm going to send you down to the nurse's office. It looks like you have a pretty serious welt."

"Okay, thanks." Luna turned to walk back to the school.

"Just remember for next time, although outfield may be boring, you still have to pay attention."

"All right. I'll try."

Luna sighed and trudged towards the school entrance, dropping off her mitt on the edge of the field as she passed by. She yanked the sleeves of her windbreaker over her frigid hands to protect them from the late October wind. She grimaced against the pain of her forehead as she entered the school. She ran up to the locker room, changed rapidly, and grabbed her backpack, then walked to the nurse's office.

The bell rang a few minutes later. Luna gave her ice pack back to the nurse, slung her backpack over her shoulders, and raced for the door. She managed to snag a seat for herself on the bus. She took out her phone and inserted her earbuds, tuning out the barrages of curse words and homophobic slurs that flew past.

Luna felt a tap on her shoulder. She pulled out one earbud and turned to see who it was. It was Luan, who had sat down next to her while she wasn't paying attention.

"Hey, Luna!" Luan began. "How's my favourite brunette older sister?"

"Dude, I'm your ONLY brunette big sis."

"Yeah. I guess that isn't FAIR!" Luan laughed at her atrocious pun.

"Don't quit your day job."

The bus started to move. Luna pulled out her other earbud.

"So, WELT else is new?"

Luna sighed. "I spaced out during softball and got beaned in the forehead."

"Daydreaming, huh? About what?"

Luna noticed how enthusiastic Luan seemed about the concept of her daydreaming. Although she wanted to share the good news, she decided to toy with her sister. "Three guesses."

"Playing a concert with Mick Swagger," Luan answered immediately.

"Nope. Guess again."

"Uh, becoming a one-hit wonder."

"Nope. One more guess."

"String, or NOTHING!" exclaimed Luan in her best Gollum voice.

Luna made a buzzer noise. "ERRRRRT! Wrong all three times! You don't get to come back tomorrow! You're a complete LOSER!"

Luan rolled her eyes. "Then what were you daydreaming about?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"Because I want to know."

"Maybe if you're nicer to me about it, I'll tell you."

"Fine," huffed Luan exaggeratedly. She proceeded to break out her puppy dog eyes and her most sickly-sweet voice: "Pwetty PWEEEASE?"

"Not now," Luna responded dismissively.

"Awww! Why?"

"'Cause I don't want to right now."

"Can I at least have a hint?"

"Sure. It's not a thing that I made up."

Luan gritted her teeth. "GAH, now I REALLY want to know!"

"I'll tell ya in a little while, bro. Just stay calm until then, okay?"

Luan sighed. "Okay."

They both sat in silence for a minute, then Luan piped up again. "Can I tell you a joke?"

"Yeah, sure. How about a chemistry joke?"

Not missing a beat, Luan continued, "Well, I'd tell you a chemistry joke, but all the good ones ARGON!"

Luna cracked a smile. "You have any bad ones?"

"Sure! Why did the EDM artist get kicked out of the chemistry lab? Because he dropped the base!"

Luna grinned again.

"You know what all doctors say about chemists: if you can't helium and you can't curium, you ought to barium!"

Luna spaced out as Luan entered into her stride. _I should probably text Sam, see if she knows that I got invited to her band._

 _Hey, what if it was her idea? That would be SICK!_

 _I guess she knows me the best out of that whole band. I like Jamie and would call him a friend, but I don't know too much about him. And Alex is kind of subdued, but she seems okay. Still, I basically know nothing about her._

 _Yeah, definitely Sam's idea._ _It was sweet of her to think of me._

 _I'll still text her, though, to let her know that I'm game._

 _Man, I'd better start brushing up on some of my older songs! I need to be in prime form for tomo-_

"Luna! Time to get off!" exclaimed Luan, startling her. Luna jumped up, grabbing her backpack, and the two sisters exited the bus. Leni and Lori followed close behind.

As the siblings walked the short path to their house, Leni turned to Luna and asked, "What happened to your head?"

"I spaced out during P.E. and got beaned by a softball."

"Does it still hurt?"

"Nah, I'm good. Don't worry about it." Her head still hurt slightly, but Luna wasn't complaining.

They entered the house, and Luan proceeded to drag Luna up the stairs.

"Come ON! I want to know what you were thinking about!" she yelled.

Luna sighed, wrenched herself free of her sister's grasp, and entered her room. Luan followed behind and shut the door.

"So tell me. What was it?"

Luna tossed her backpack onto her bed, thinking. She had no idea where to begin. "Well, remember Sam?"

"The guy who you gave the letter to?"

"Yep! Well, uh, Sam has a band, and I got invited to join!"

Luan looked at her in astonishment for a second. Then she broke into an earsplitting grin.

"OH MY GOD, THAT'S AWESOME!" she squealed, jumping up and down.

"KEEP IT DOWN!" yelled Lori from her room.

 _This is exactly why I didn't want to tell her on the bus._

Luan ran over to Luna and said, "I have about a million questions! When are you playing? Did he invite you? What instrument does he play? Can I come watch you guys? Are you-"

"Hold on!" interjected Luna. "Slow down! Okay, so my first practice is tomorrow after school; no, not personally; the keyboard and the clarinet; and no. Sorry."

"Aw, man! Come on! For these sorts of things, we have to BAND together!"

Luna groaned. "Okay. For that pun, you have to leave."

Luan started to complain, but Luna gave her a death glare. She walked over to the door.

Before she left, Luna said, "Wait a sec!" Luan stopped.

"This is a just between you and me thing, okay?"

"Got it. I won't tell a soul!" With that, Luan strode out the door.

* * *

 **Alex is the other girl from "L Is for Love", in case you were wondering.**

 **The grammar mistakes in Luna and Luan's dialogue are intentional.**

 **See you soon!**


	3. A Conversation or Three

**NB: Underlines denote the name of a person sending the text message which follows it.**

 **Also, any spelling or grammar errors made in the text messages are intentional.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Luna stretched out on her bed. She could get some (relative) peace and quiet for a few minutes, before her younger sisters and brother got home. She pulled out her phone, stuck in her earbuds, and sent Sam a text message.

Luna: yo sam

She pulled up a notepad app on her phone and started to edit the lyrics of a song that she was writing while she waited for Sam to respond.

About a minute later, her phone buzzed.

Sam: Hey Moon Unit :) Whats up?

Luna: got ur invite

Sam: Oh? U okay to come?

Luna: gotta check w the rents 1st but yep

Sam: Great!:)

Luna: waz ur idea rite?

Sam: No it was JS Bachs idea.

Luna: whos he ur bf?

Sam: I was being sarcastric Hes a claasical muskrat composeur :)

Sam: Muskrat*

Sam: SAMIT MUSIC**

Luna: lmap

Sam: **** you autocorrect :(

Luna: k so y invite me now

Sam: What do you mean

Luna: ur bro gradiated last yr y u need me now

Sam: Because I cant play guitar

Sam: Also we have a gig in 3 wks :(

 _Jeez. That's not a lot of time,_ thought Luna. _Who the **** booked it?_

Luna: wat

Luna: thouggt jamie couod lpay

Sam: He can we just need another axd

Luna: what for

Sam: Some of our songs need 2 guitars. I cant play and Alex needs to drum :(

Luna: oh y not have u play th pt on keyboard

Sam: It doesnt work that way

Luna: stuborn ***holds

Sam: Mis you too :)

Luna: u se me evry day

Sam: Not the same bro

Sam: Hey but now we can see each ohter more often It will be great :))

Luna: ull bcome sick of me just warning u

Sam: I might but Ill still love u :)

Luna blushed.

Luna: u mena ti?

Sam: Sure will you be my fake bf

Luna: wha

Sam: JK :)

Luna put down her phone and took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to clear her head. She sunk her face into her pillow until she regained her composure.

Her phone buzzed.

Sam: Still alive?

Luna: barely

Sam: Me too bro

Luna: so abt the fake bf thing

Sam: I was kidding! I cant deal with love letters frm 2 people :)

Luna: who says id write letrers

Sam: Then whatd you do?

Luna: serenade u

Sam: My parents would freak

Luna: then what do u propose

Sam: So soon?:)

Luna covered her head with her pillow in frustration.

Luna: **** u

Sam: Not yet:)

Luna covered her head with her pillow again, barely resisting the urge to scream the filthiest words she could think of.

Luna: NOT WHAT I MEANT

Sam: LOL JK :)

Luna: o rly

Sam: So we need to think of some songs for the gig Any ideas?

Luna: u havent even gorten a list tgthr u slackerx

Sam: Look Jamie just told us abt it two days ago

Luna: WAT U GOTTA BE ****IN ME

Sam: Jamie has no sense of time

Luna: NO **** HE DOESNT

Luna: so wheres the gig gonna b

Sam: A brithday parry for Jamies 8 year olf cousin

Luna: that narrows it down a lot

Sam: Yep

Luna: so no swearing

Sam: Gonna be a problem for Alex she swears like a saolor

Luna set down her phone and thought for a moment. As she pondered song ideas, she heard her younger siblings enter the house. _Hoo boy._

Luna: birthday by thw beatles

Sam: But of course! :)anything else?

Luna: two princes by spin doctors

Sam: Never heard of it

Luna: its rly good u should listen to it

Luna: also they played it on sesame strert so its not bad

Sam: I loved that show

Luna: me 2

Luna: tu me gusta

 _Here's hoping she gets the reference. Otherwise, this will be awkward._

Sam: It means that I like you :D

Excited, Luna was about to type a response. Then Lucy hung her head over the edge of Luan's bed and said, "Who are you texting?"

Luna jumped into the air in shock, slamming her head into the underside of Luan's bed. "OW! GAH! SON OF A BI- er, BIMBO!"

Lucy clambered down from the top bunk and sat cross-legged on the floor, looking up at Luna stoically.

Rubbing her now very sore head, Luna pulled out her earbuds and exclaimed, "Please stop sneaking up on me like that!"

"It's your fault for leaving the door to your room open."

"No, I closed-" began Luna, but then she looked at the door. Luan had left it open after leaving. She sighed.

"So who were you texting?"

Resignedly, Luna replied, "Sam, a friend from school."

Lucy thought for a moment, then said, "THAT Sam?"

"Whaddya mean?"

"The boy you gave the love letter to?"

"Yup."

"Why?"

Luna looked at her little sister, confused. "Whaddya mean, why?"

"Your previous conversations with him were through letters. I thought you would keep doing so."

"It was ONE letter, and it was anonymous."

Lucy tilted her head confusedly. "Anonymous?"

"Sam doesn't know it's me who sent it."

"Oh."

Luna's phone buzzed from its resting place on her bed. She turned to it and picked it up.

Sam: Still alive? I got the ref :)

"One second," she told Lucy.

Luna: talkin 2 my sis g2g

Sam: OK see you tomoreow! :)

Luna placed her phone down on the bed. She waited for a minute, waiting for Lucy to ask her more. She remained silent.

When Lucy got up, about to leave, Luna asked, "Why didn't ya ask me anything else?"

Lucy turned her head towards her sister. "Pardon?"

"I was waiting for you to ask me more about Sam."

Underneath her bangs, Lucy raised an eyebrow. "I think you've been hanging out with Lori and Lola too much. Not everybody wants to know every last bit of gossip. I of all people should understand how important privacy is.

"Hey, that gives me a good idea for a poem. Privacy. Means nothing to my family. Privacy..." Lucy shuffled out of the room, scribbling words onto a pad of paper.

 _I oughta go tell my folks about the band meeting to see if I can go._

Luna plugged her phone into a charging cord, then stepped out the door and right into the path of Lola's toy jeep, which was being driven by Lana for some reason. The plastic bumper slammed into her left shin, causing her to collapse in pain. Lana yanked the steering wheel to the right and swerved around Luna, shaking her fist at her and yelling, "Out of my way, jaywalker!"

Luna barely managed to crawl back through the doorway to avoid getting hit by Lola, who charged past her, wielding one of Lynn's baseball bats and wearing a murderous expression on her face.

Luna cautiously treaded her way downstairs to the living room, where her mother was vacuuming the carpet. "HEY MOM!" she yelled over the roar of the vacuum cleaner.

Her mother switched off the vacuum cleaner and turned to her. "Yes, dear?"

"I got invited to join a friend's band. They got a practice tomorrow, just down the street. Can I go?"

"Sure, honey! Just remember to be back home by six."

"Awesome! Thanks, ma!"

Her mother turned the vacuum cleaner back on, just as Lana and Lola's jeep tumbled down the stairs. Luna jumped out of her way. Lola, standing at the top of the stairs, hollered, "YOU'RE GOING TO WRECK MY PAINT JOB, YOU CRETIN!"

Avoiding the perpetually brawling twins, Luna walked back to her room and began her homework.

 _YESSSSSSS I CAN GO_

 _Now how do I go about expressing my feelings to Sam?_

 _Eh, I'll think about it more realistically later._

She promptly proceeded to daydream instead of writing an essay about _The Lord of the Flies_.

* * *

 **Did you ever notice how hilarious the word "muskrat" is?**

 **Muskrat muskrat muskrat muskrat.**

 **(God, I need sleep.)**

 **See you soon, hopefully!**


	4. A Lazily-Bookended Flashback

**Hi again! I'm glad you're back and are willing to suffer through some more of my story! (I agree, that last chapter was awful.)**

 **N.B. An ellipsis on its own line denotes a brief time skip.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Luna lay on her back in her bed that night, listening to the sound of her sister sleep-talking.

"zzz... what's the hardest thing about skydiving? ... the ground..."

She couldn't sleep. She was worrying too much about how tomorrow would go. Luan's somniloquating did not help.

 _I need to calm down, stop thinking about this._

 _But what do I think of instead?_

 _GOD **** YOU FOR NOT GIVING ME ANY ALTERNATIVE THOUGHT ROUTES, BRAIN_

Luna sighed and rolled onto her side, facing the wall.

 _Why do I love her, anyway?_

* * *

 ***FLASHBACK!***

Luna tossed her backpack onto the floor next to her assigned seat and sat down anxiously. She absent-mindedly reached up to twirl a strand of hair around her finger, then stopped short upon recalling that she had cut her hair very short only last week. She settled for resting her face in her hand instead.

 _Okay, so I found my locker, I found my classroom, and I found my seat. That's good. High school is good so far._

 _I don't see any of my friends in this class, though._

 _Eh, most of them are older than me, anyways._

"All right, class," said the tall, greying teacher, "welcome to Civics. My name is Mr. Hart. I'm going to take attendance, then I'll explain to you what this class is all about."

Mr. Hart began to rattle off names from a list. Each student raised their hand and said "Here" as their name was called. Luna looked to see who each person was who spoke.

...

"Kelly Koba?"

"Here," said a thin, dark-haired girl.

"Katherine LoPresti?"

"Here," said a tall, short-haired girl. "And could you please call me Kate?"

"Sure, Katie," said Mr. Hart, jotting down a note on his list. The girl rolled her eyes.

"Luna Loud?"

"Here," said Luna.

"Matthew Ma- uh, Ma-si-joo-ski?"

"It's pronounced 'Ma-che-ski'," said a red-haired boy.

"Tyler Peruta?"

"Physically and mentally here," said a well-dressed blond boy sitting in the back of the room.

"Samantha Pestillo?"

"Here," said a girl with a blue streak in her otherwise blond hair who was sitting to the right of Luna.

"Kathleen Reilly?"

"What?" said a curly-haired girl, looking up from a drawing. "Oh, here. And could you please call me Kate?"

"Sure, Kate," said the teacher. He made another note on his list.

While Mr. Hart was looking away, the tall girl flipped off the doodler, who grinned back insincerely.

Luna fazed out during the rest of the roll call, but she snapped to attention once Mr. Hart began his monologue. "All right, class. Civics is the study of your roles as American citizens. You will learn about how citizens participate in the government, how the government works, and current events and politics. Remember that you can't graduate from high school if you don't pass this class; it is state-required that you pass it."

The blond girl glanced over to Luna, looking eager to tell her something. Luna cocked her ear, and the girl whispered, "I bet Arkansas doesn't require it." Luna snickered.

The teacher continued, "I hope you got all the supplies listed on my webpage for this class, because you will need all of them."

Luna opened her backpack and pulled out a green folder and notebook and a sharpened pencil. Some other kids did the same.

"Now, to start, we're going to play a get-to-know-you game. I want everybody to take out a piece of paper and a pencil."

Luna tore out a sheet of notebook paper. The blond girl took out a mechanical pencil, then turned to Luna and asked, "Can I have a piece of paper?" Luna tore out another sheet and handed it to her.

"All right, class, now I want you to write two truths and one lie about yourself. Also, put your name on the paper. I will read these to the class, so keep that in mind."

Luna thought for a moment, then jotted down her two truths and a lie.

 _Truth: I wear contacts._

 _Truth: I can play four different musical instruments._

 _Lie: Uh..._

 _Jeez. I can't think of one._

 _Eh. I'll do something funny._

 _Lie: I have the power to rewind time._

She folded the paper in half and passed it to the front of her row.

Mr. Hart collected the papers, then shuffled through them and selected one at random.

"Samantha, you're up. So I'm going to read through her two truths and a lie, and then you get to guess which one is the lie. Samantha will tell you if you're right."

Samantha nodded.

"1. I write X-Men fanfiction. 2. My brother is in college. 3. I can play "Piano Man" by Billy Joel."

 _I wish Statement 3 was true._

"Who thinks Statement 1 is wrong?"

Eight people, including Luna, raised their hands.

"How about Statement 2?"

Six people raised their hands.

"Statement 3?"

Thirteen people raised their hands.

"So which one is a lie?"

Samantha spoke up: "Statement 2. My brother is actually a senior in high school."

Mr. Hart set the paper aside and said, "That's good to know. I think I had your brother in my class. His name is Patrick, right?"

Samantha nodded. "Yep!"

Mr. Hart pulled out another paper.

"Okay, Katie, you're up."

Both Kates said "Okay" simultaneously. Then Short Kate realised her mistake and facepalmed.

"Okay. 1. My brother is on the school robotics team. 2. Cake is my favourite dessert. 3. My mother is a paraprofessional."

Five people raised their hands for number 1, seven raised their hands for number 2, and fifteen (including Luna) raised their hands for number 3.

Tall Kate said with a grin, "The cake is a lie."

A few students groaned at the horrid pun.

The teacher put aside the paper and asked, "What is your favourite dessert, then?"

"Ice cream."

Mr. Hart pulled out another paper.

"Okay, your turn, Luna."

Luna sat forward eagerly, responding, "Cool."

"1. I wear contacts. 2. I can play four different musical instruments."

Mr. Hart started to crack up.

"3," he said between chuckles, "I have the power to rewind time."

The class laughed.

"How many of you think that Statement 3 is a lie?"

Everybody raised their hands except for one boy who had put in earbuds and wasn't paying attention.

Mr. Hart set the paper aside. "What musical instruments do you play, Luna?"

"The guitar, the drums, the ukulele, and the trombone."

"Neat," he replied, pulling out another paper from the pile.

...

Luna walked into the cafeteria, looking around for any friends with whom she could sit.

 _Don't know them, don't know them, LOATHE that guy, don't know them..._

 _Hey! Leni's over there!_

Luna started to manoeuvre her way to her older sister.

All of a sudden, she crashed into the blond girl from Civics class. They both fell to the ground.

"Oh, hi!" said the blond girl, getting up slowly.

"Hey yourself," replied Luna. "You're Samantha, right?"

"Yeah, but just call me Sam," she said. "Hey, you want to sit with me?"

"'Kay, sure, dude."

They walked over to an empty table and sat down. Sam pulled out a lunch box and began to eat. Luna looked at her with mock envy and said, "Lucky!"

"What?" Sam replied defensively.

"I never get a packed lunch."

Sam tilted her head inquisitively. "Why not?"

"'Cuz I got ten siblings, and it'd be a pain for the 'rents to make lunches for all of them."

Sam's face took on an expression of surprise. "Really? Ten siblings?"

"Yep. Nine sisters and one brother."

Luna was used to shocked reactions about her large number of siblings by now.

"Holy crap! That must be insane!"

"Eh, if it's what you grow up with, you get used to it."

Sam gazed at the table for a moment, lost in thought. Finally, she turned back to Luna and spoke. "You could always make your own lunch."

Luna nodded. The idea had never occurred to her before. "I guess so. Better get food, though."

She stood up and walked to the lunch line.

When Luna returned, carrying her tray of food (it was pizza day), she saw that two more kids had sat at the table with Sam.

"Hey, Luna!" she said as Luna sat down. "This is Mia." Sam gestured to the Asian girl sitting to her left, who grinned widely and said, "Hey, how's it going?"

"S'all good. Nice to meetcha," replied Luna.

"And this is Jamie." Sam gestured to the tall boy with brown hair on her right, who smiled at Luna. "He's in my brother's band."

Luna raised her eyebrows. "Your brother has a band?"

"Yep! We're called "The Italians"."

Luna nodded pensively. "I think I can guess what nationality you all are."

"We're all Polish, actually. Well, my brother and I are part Italian, but Jamie and Alex are completely Polish."

Luna chuckled. "That explains the blond hair. Love the dye job, by the way."

"Oh, you like it? Thanks! Uh, your hair's pretty cool, too!" said Sam self-consciously.

"Thanks," said Luna, taking a bite of her pizza. "So you play piano, I'm guessing?"

"Yeah, I do. Also clarinet, but that's just for band class."

"Cool! How long have you been playing?"

"Since I was six. And you?"

"Been playing trombone since fourth grade, and I picked up the guitar in seventh."

Jamie piped up. "I play the guitar, too."

"No one asked you your opinion, Mr. Everything-Revolves-Around-Me!" retorted Mia.

Luna asked, "Do you play an instrument, Mia?"

"Yeah, the clarinet. I'm my section leader in marching band."

"Sweet!"

 _These people are cool and seem really nice! I'm glad I ran into Sam (literally)!_

...

It was a few months later, and Luna was relaxing on the chair in her living room. Lynn was flipping through the sports channels until Lola snatched the remote from her hand, shouting, "It's my turn to pick a show now!"

"Try to take the remote from me, willya?" retorted Lynn. "You're gonna pay!"

The sisters began to pummel each other until Luna stepped in and forcibly separated them.

"GUYS! Why can't we find a show you both wanna watch?"

Lynn and Lola were silent for a moment.

"Good point," said Lynn.

Luna picked up the remote from the floor and began to flip through channels. She stopped upon seeing the movie _Ice Princess_. "Hey, how 'bout this one? It's got figure skating, which means there's both sports and, uh, femininity!"

Lynn and Lola sat down eagerly as Luna turned on the movie. It opened into the scene where the skaters are performing their routines at sectionals.

Luna quickly grew fascinated.

 _Holy ****..._

 _Those chicks are..._

 _Hot?_

 _Is that the right word?_

 _Nah, they're cool. Literally._

 _No, no, be serious._

 _Yeah. Hot is the right word, I think._

 _What even...?_

 _Why am I thinking this?_

Luna got up from the chair and ran to her room. She sat on her bed and tried to think, to put order to her thoughts whirling confusedly around her head.

 _Okay, okay._

 _So what was THAT all about._

 _I felt..._

 _...attracted to them?_

 _What._

 _No. No._

 _That can't be right._

 _You know, women are supposed to be judged on beauty by society? Maybe this was just a holdover from that?_

 _No. That wasn't it._

 _Stop lying to yourself. You've had these feelings before. You've thought you might be..._

 _May as well come out and say it, now that you know for sure._

 _No. I..._

 _There's no proof..._

 _But you know now. Was that not proof?_

Luna sighed in defeat.

 _I'm... bisexual._

Luna looked down at herself.

 _Why?_

...

Luna left her harrowing epiphany looking at herself and her friends in a very different light.

 _No, everything's still the same. It's just me who's changed._

 _Well, I haven't changed, really._

 _I just can't wrap my head around this. How does this happen all of a sudden?_

 _Your world turns upside down, without a reason why..._

 _Okay, that would make a good song._

Luna jotted down the phrase in her planner while she waited for Sam and Jamie to arrive at her lunch table.

"Hey, Moon Unit!" Sam said loudly from behind her, making her jump.

"Jesus CHRIST, dude! I'm THINKING!"

"So you brought your axe, right?" asked Jamie.

"Uh, yeah. Right. So you wanted to hear me play?"

"Yeah. So go ahead, then!" he said excitedly.

Luna slung her guitar across the front of her body a bit nervously. "Uh, what should I play?"

"I don't care. Whatever you like."

"Okay. I'll play that solo from "Hotel California", then. I finally got it down just last week."

"Cool." Jamie and Sam sat down and listened eagerly.

Luna started to play. She used the song to release as much of the emotion festering inside her these past few days as she could. She hit a few wrong notes along the way, though.

 _Oh jeez_ , she thought upon hitting a particularly egregious one. _**** it, they're not gonna think I'm any good now._

She was shocked upon looking up and noticing that they had thrown up the goats. Then she grinned and played with even more enthusiasm.

Luna looked over at Sam.

 _Man, she's such a nice person. I'm so glad I'm friends with her._

 _She just..._

 _Wow. The light really catches her hair._

 _I never noticed how cute Sam was before._

 _DUDE! SHE'S LIKE YOUR BEST FRIEND! THAT'S NOT COOL!_

Luna finished her song and started to faze out, mentally debating.

 _No, I'm gonna think what I want. I mean, it's 2017. It's not like... people like me are taboo any more._

 _Yeah, but still. There's gotta be some sort of BFF-code. Like, Rule 1. Don't develop a crush on your BFF._

 _Well, there's no list out there that I know of, so it's not really against the rules._

"Luna?" Sam waved her hand in front of Luna's face. "This is Ground Control to Major Loud!"

Luna snapped out of her reverie. "Oh, sorry. Just spaced out there a bit."

"You did a good job, Lunes!" said Jamie. "I really feel like learning that solo now!"

"Thanks, bro!"

Luna put away her guitar and opened her packed lunch, feeling disgusted with herself.

 ***END OF FLASHBACK!***

* * *

Luna turned over in bed again.

 _Well, I've come to terms with me, now._

 _And at least I'm in love with a nice person._

 _She wouldn't reject me, though. She's too nice._

 _I think everything will turn out all right._

She sighed and finally drifted off to sleep.

* * *

 **I hold no grudges against people from Arkansas; it's just easy to make fun of you guys. :)**

 **(BTW YOU'RE THE REASON I GOT A 4 ON MY AP PHYSICS EXAMS)**

 **(JK)**

 **(WE ALL KNOW IT WAS ALABAMA)**

 **I have never played _Portal_. It does not belong to me.**

 **The movie _Ice Princess_ does not belong to me. I've watched it, and it's not bad, although it's moderately clichéd and has a sucky message.**

 **My explanation for the inclusion of figure skaters was because I had been thinking about gay figure skaters, and my brain took that thought along a weird path, leading us here. I hope the scene wasn't too unrealistic.**

 **Lent is here and robotics is becoming more and more time-consuming, so I will likely not be able to post every week. I will update as often as I can, though. Happy Valentine's day (and Ash Wednesday), and I hope to see you soon!**


	5. Today's the Day!

**Hi again! Welcome back!**

 **A no-prize goes to whomever knows what I'm referencing by the title of this story! I'll tell you the answer next chapter.**

* * *

Luna woke up that morning feeling refreshed and excited.

 _WOOOO! TODAY'S THE DAY! **** YEAH! LET'S GO!_

She switched off her alarm clock, then slid out of bed.

 _I think I'll wear something a little different today, you know, just to mix things up. Also, I did read that the color red increases perceived attractiveness._

Luna pulled out from her closet a black T-shirt with a red Rush 2112 logo on it, a pair of blue jeans, and a red jacket.

She dressed and ate breakfast rapidly so that she would have time to tune her guitar before hitting the road.

She ran up to her room, grabbed her phone, and opened a tuning app. After a minute of adjusting the pegs, she strummed a power chord with finality, then carefully put away her guitar and shoved her phone into her pocket.

 _Oh, right! It's my turn to wake up Lynn!_

Luna ran into Lynn and Lucy's room and leaped on top of Lynn, startling her awake.

"GAH!" Lynn yelled. "I'm up! I'm up!"

Luna stood back up and folded her arms. "I wanna see ya get out of bed first. I'm not having ya miss the bus again."

Lynn groaned and rolled out of bed.

Luna walked back downstairs and quickly made herself a ham-and-cheese sandwich for lunch. She stuffed it into her lunchbox, stuffed that into her backpack, grabbed it, and headed out the door to the bus stop.

...

Luna walked into the lunchroom just seconds before the bell sounded. _That was a close one._

She paused and scanned the room for Sam. She spotted her sitting at a table with Tall Kate and Mia. Luna walked over to the group.

"Wassup, guys?" she asked, plunking her backpack down next to Sam.

Sam gave Luna a playful punch in the arm as she sat down. "Moon Unit! Cool shirt, buddy!"

"Thanks!"

Mia glanced up from the book she was reading. "Hey, James Halliday called," she remarked. "He wants his shirt back."

The three girls looked at Mia with confusion. "Who's James Halliday?" asked Tall Kate, turning her attention away from her laptop.

"He's the rich genius guy in _Ready Player One_."

"What?"

"You know, the book _Ready Player One_? The one where this kid finds the key to-"

"Okay, I get it. It's a book; it's good; I should read it."

"You'd like it, though. It's about a video game."

"I kind of gathered that."

Sam turned from Tall Kate's and Mia's banter and looked at Luna. "So, you ready to play today?"

"Totally! You want me to bring anything 'sides my axe?"

"Nah, you're set. I can hook up one of Pat's old amps for you."

"All right. Saves me a little back pain in the future."

Sam chuckled. "You, of all people, thinking about the future? Wasn't it you who told me to live in the now?"

"I was younger then."

"That was less than a year ago!"

Luna feigned an air of superiority. "I have matured very much since then."

"Says the girl wearing paperclip earrings."

"Dude! Those are a fashion statement!"

"Yeah, they're a statement, all right. A statement that, uh, your head is full of paper or something." Sam looked down at her feet, evidently displeased with the simplistic nature of her jab.

"Nice comeback, there, dumb***."

"I've been trying to get better at those."

"I prefer you when you're just being nice."

Sam smiled sweetly. "So you don't want me to go changing, just to please you?"

"I like you just the way you are, bro!" said Luna, beginning to feel vaguely uneasy but maintaining her smile.

Tall Kate smacked the Enter key on her laptop violently, then looked at the screen and clenched her teeth in annoyance. "God! ****ing! ****it!" she exclaimed.

Luna looked over at her, concerned. "Whatcha doing, Kate?" she inquired.

Tall Kate responded, "I'm trying to fix some ****ing robot code, but it won't ****ing compile! It's driving me up the ****ing wall!"

Sam asked, "What're you trying to get the robot to do?"

"It's supposed to follow you around if you attach this special tape to you. But that's not what it's doing now."

"That's neat! Man, I wish I could do stuff that cool!"

Luna said, "I thought PLAYING IN A BAND qualified as cool."

Mia responded, "If that was the case, then Kate wouldn't really be cool."

Tall Kate jokingly said, "Hey!"

Sam threw up her hands in mock apology, then said, "I'm sorry, Kate! You're really cute - I mean cool!"

Tall Kate gave Sam, who was beginning to blush, a sidelong look that lasted for an awkwardly long time. "I have a boyfriend, you know," she said pointedly.

Sam began to stammer, "I- I- Th- that's not what I meant! It was a slip of the, of the tongue is all!"

Luna sat quietly while her mind tore itself apart. Half of her thought, _YES! SHE'S TOTALLY INTO GIRLS! I HAVE A CHANCE WITH HER AFTER ALL!_

The other half thought, _OH GOD OH GOD SHE'S GOT A CRUSH ON SOMEONE ELSE RED ALERT RED ALERT!_

Despite the mental torture, Luna remained calm as she bit into her sandwich.

...

Luna got off the bus and practically sprinted to her house. She unlocked the front door, being careful so as not to tear off the doorknob by accident, and ran up to her room, where she threw down her backpack and grabbed her guitar case. She took a pick off of her desk and placed it into her pocket. Then she opened up Google Maps to make sure she knew where the house was.

Luna calmly walked out of her house and down the street until she reached house number 854. Her heart pounded in both anxiety and excitement as she walked down the driveway.

She rapped on the garage door.

No answer.

 _Sam might not have gotten home yet. I'll try the front._

Luna walked to the front door and rang the doorbell.

About half a minute later, a tall blond lady answered the door. "Yes?"

Sheepishly, Luna said, "Hi, Mrs. Pestillo. I'm Luna Loud, Sam's friend from school. I'm here to practice with her band."

After a pause, Mrs. Pestillo smiled warmly and replied, "Hi, Luna! It's nice to finally meet you! Uh, why don't you come inside?"

"Okay, sure! Thanks! Good to meet you, too!"

Luna shook Mrs. Pestillo's hand, then stepped inside.

Mrs. Pestillo led her to a fairly clean kitchen. She asked, "So, you're a musician?"

"Yep! D'you think I would be in Sam's band if I weren't?"

Mrs. Pestillo chuckled. "I was just making sure! And you are carrying a guitar case."

Luna smirked. "It's actually an assault rifle in there. We're playing Russian Roulette later today," she said sarcastically.

"Uh, what's the number for 911 again?" Mrs. Pestillo joked, pulling out her phone.

"Thank God I'm not in school right now. I'd have detention right now for saying that."

Mrs. Pestillo nodded and smiled. "Sam talks about you a lot, you know. She says you're a good kid. And, uh..." She glanced at Luna's delinquent-looking outfit briefly before continuing hesitantly. "...Although you do look like the type who would egg my house, I trust her judgment. I don't mean to offend you or anything, though."

Luna smiled. "Nah, it's all good. Clothes may make the person, but they don't make the personality."

"That was very eloquent."

"Yeah, I'm the smart druggie type. You know, like that guy from _Ferris Bueller's Day Off_? Although I don't do drugs or anything like that."

Just then, Sam barged through the door. She stopped short upon seeing Luna talking to her mother. After recovering from the initial shock, she said, "Oh, hey, Luna! I see you found your way here all right."

Luna waved her hand dismissively. "Nah, I got lost in Detroit on my way, but it's all good."

"Okay, hold on a second, I have to get some sheet music." Sam turned and ran up the stairs, presumably to her room.

Luna watched her go, then thought to herself, _**** it, I forgot to bring sheet music!_

Sam ran back down a few moments later, carrying a binder packed full of leaves of paper. "Okay, I got the music," she said. "Let's go set up before Jamie and Alex get here. Come on!"

Luna picked up her guitar case and followed Sam through a doorway into the garage.

* * *

 **I rapped this out in like thirty minutes. I hope it's not too poorly written.**

 **Hope to see you soon!**


	6. The Practice

**Side note: I don't own any of the songs or other pop culture references which I have made or will make in this fanfic.**

 **I would like to apologise in advance for leaving a lot of musical detail out of this chapter. I cannot play the guitar or the drums (but I can play the piano and the pencil drums) and so am unable to describe how much of the band plays notes or rhythms. I hope the chapter is still satisfactory.**

* * *

As they began taking sound equipment out of a cupboard in the back of the two-car garage, Sam explained to Luna, "I tend to leave the garage door closed because the noise bugs the neighbors. But it's a really nice day for October, and the door screws with the sound, so I think I'm gonna open it up and pray that nobody's home."

Luna nodded, plugging Sam's keyboard into a power strip. Sam walked over to the garage door control panel and pressed the Open button.

As the garage door finished opening, Jamie and Alex walked inside, Jamie with his guitar slung over his back and Alex carrying two pairs of drumsticks.

"Hi, Luna! Glad you could make it!" said Alex, giving her a high-five.

"Glad to be here, dude. What's new?"

Alex casually leaned up against the car on one side of the garage. "School sucks, my brother sucks, everything ****ing sucks."

Sam said to Alex, "We really gotta break you of your swearing habit before the gig. We're playing for eight-year-olds, after all."

Jamie turned to Sam and asked her, "So, uh, did you ever ask Kate what she thought about me?"

Sam uneasily said, "No."

"Why not?"

"Uh, it slipped my mind. Sorry. I'll hint to something tomorrow, if you want."

"'Kay."

 _Oh ****._

Luna said, "Uh, didja ever listen to "Two Princes"?"

Sam replied, "No, I never got around to it. We can listen to it right now, if you want."

Sam connected her phone to a Bluetooth speaker in her pocket, then searched for the song on YouTube.

The band finished setting up equipment while they listened to the song. After it ended, they all nodded in agreement.

Jamie asked, "So do you have sheet music for that song?"

Luna replied, "Nah, but I know the words and lead part by heart. It's my sister's favorite song."

Sam inquired, "Which one?"

"Lola's."

"Like I said, which one?"

They all laughed.

Jamie said, "So I think you should sing that one, Luna. It's probably too high of a register for me."

"'Kay, but it might be too low of a register for me," replied Luna. "Also, any of you guys know "Birthday" by The Beatles?"

Jamie replied, "Yeah, I started learning it 'cause I thought it would fit the sitch."

"Me too," said Sam.

Alex shook her head. "I didn't learn it, but I think we should play it."

Everyone else agreed.

Sam asked, "How many songs do you think we should play?"

Jamie replied, "I dunno, maybe seven or eight? If we run out, we can always ad-lib something."

Luna added, "Yeah, and let's not make anything original. It'll just take too long to prepare and everything."

Everyone agreed.

Sam asked, "Any more ideas?"

Alex replied, "How 'bout "**** You" by CeeLo Green?"

Everyone else laughed and said, "No."

Alex said, "On a more serious note, how 'bout "I Want You Back" by Jackson 5?"

Luna perked up and said, "Ooh, that's a good idea! I say yes!"

Jamie and Sam nodded their agreement.

Sam said, "I like it. It's got piano in it. I won't be bored the entire performance."

Jamie asked, "Can we sing something with a lower register, please?"

Luna turned to him and said, "You feel up to "Dream On"? Or "Take On Me"?"

Jamie gave her a withering look.

Alex spoke up: "How about "Take 5"?"

Luna asked, "Don'cha think that may be too boring for little kids?"

"Oh, come on! I like jazz!"

"Then why the **** are you in a rock band?"

Jamie interjected, "Language!"

Sam retorted, "Shut up, Cap."

 _These guys are just great._

Jamie's face lit up all of a sudden. ""Wonderwall"."

Alex said, "No." Luna and Sam said "Yes" simultaneously.

"You're overruled, Alex."

"****."

Jamie remarked, "Finally! A song that I can actually sing!"

Sam ignored him. "Okay then. We got four songs for now. Wanna start practicing them now and talk about other ideas later?"

Everyone agreed and picked up their instruments.

After a brief tuning session, Sam asked, "So what do you want to play first?"

Alex said, "Let's go with "Birthday". That's the most important one."

Sam flipped through her music binder and found copies of the song for lead guitar, bass, piano, and drums, then handed them out.

Luna was impressed. "You're prepared," she remarked.

Sam replied, "Pat is a huge Beatles fan. He knows how to play almost all of their songs." She turned to Alex, grinning. "Especially "From Me to You"."

Alex groaned. "I swear to God, if I hear that song one more ****ing time, I'm going to snap and murder somebody."

Sam threw up her hands and exclaimed, "Please don't do that! My mom would get mad if you got blood all over her garage!"

Jamie and Luna laughed.

Jamie quickly calmed down and said, "Guys! So let's get to it, now!"

Alex counted off, and they jumped right into the song and played it through.

 _That didn't sound so bad, but it could definitely use work. I'm not quite sure where, though. Maybe we could record it and then play it through to see what we need to fix._

Sam said, "Okay. How 'bout we record our next playthrough to see what we need to work on?"

Luna turned to her in grateful surprise. "You musta read my mind, dude!"

"What can I say? I'm a regular Professor X!"

Jamie laughed at that, then pulled out his phone, opened a recording app on it, and placed it on the floor in the middle of the group. "Ready, guys?"

They played through the song again, then listened to it.

"My God," said Alex. "My sense of timing is really ****ed up."

Jamie retorted, "Took one too many blows to the head lately?"

Alex curled her left hand into a fist and shook it at him. "I'll show YOU a blow!"

"Hey, now! Let's keep things PG-13 here."

Luna and Sam doubled over with laughter.

Through giggles, Sam managed, "Jamie? Are you sure it's not you with the head injury? 'Cause your train of thought is WAY screwed up!"

 _Did I mention how awesome these people are?_

...

Sam checked her phone after finally nailing the chord progression for "I Want You Back". "It's 5:30, guys," she said, sweeping her hair out of her face. "My dad's gonna be here around 6, so we should start packing up."

Everybody started to move the sound equipment back into the cupboard.

 _MAN, time flew by FAST. These guys are really good musicians; I'm glad I can play with people that aren't worse than me for once! And we work together really well, too!_

 _I'd better practice those beginning riffs to "I Want You Back" more tonight. It's been a while since I've played it. I learned it because of_ Guardians of the Galaxy _and haven't returned to it since._

 _Speaking of which, I really wanna watch the sequel at some point. Maybe after we indoctrinate Luan into the "Loud Highschoolers Group" with_ Mean Girls _, we can watch it the next week._

 _Speaking of which, I'm surprised we haven't done that earlier. Well, I guess Lori has been busy wi-_

Alex exclaimed, "Oh sh- I mean, oh crap! I gotta get home so I can change before work! I forgot that I had work today!"

She picked up her sticks and started to speedwalk to the open garage door. Jamie followed on her heels, carrying his bass. They both climbed into Alex's car and drove away.

Luna watched the car fade into the distance, then remarked, "They hate packing up that much, huh?"

Sam smirked and unplugged her keyboard from the power strip. "No, not that they've ever complained."

"I'm not complaining either."

"I'm glad."

They finished packing up in silence, Luna growing more uneasy by the moment.

* * *

 **The answer to my mini-quiz from last chapter is the song "Listen to the Band" by The Monkees. It's a fairly good song, and they're an undervalued band. If you did happen to know the answer without Googling it, good job.**

 **See you soon!**


	7. The Moment You've All Been Waiting For

**So, quick shoutout: Thank you to everybody who has been putting up with my story and reading through it despite the shaky plot and dull sections of dialogue. Your support means a lot to me.**

 **NOW HERE'S YOUR PRIZE!**

* * *

Luna's mind overflowed with trains of thought as she stowed away the last amp.

 _OH GOD WE'RE ALONE NOW WHAT DO I DO_

 _This is the perfect opportunity to tell Sam how you feel!_

 _But she's got a crush on Tall Kate!_

 _But she knows Jamie's got a crush on Tall Kate!_

 _But she knows Tall Kate's already dating Henry!_

 _**** high school drama..._

 _JUST TELL HER ALREADY! DON'T BE A WUSS!_

 _No. No one must know._

 _But you trusted her about what really happened with the whole noodle incident! She never told a soul!_

 _Remember our agreement about never speaking of it ever again?_

 _Dude. Talk to her. Get it off your chest._

 _THAT'S WHAT SHE S-_

 _SHUT UP, NIMROD!_

 _Just tell her!_

Luna began to grow tense and started shivering slightly.

Sam looked at Luna. "Still alive?"

Luna dropped her gaze. She nodded.

Sam asked her, "So, how's Geometry going? You like Ms. Adams?"

Luna stammered, "Yeah. I-I-I guess s-so. She's nice."

"Yeah, she is. She's like the complete opposite of my current math teacher, Ms. Johnson. God, that lady is cynical."

Luna nodded. She had heard stories about Ms. Johnson from Lori.

Sam walked over to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Is something eating you?"

Luna shrugged her off, a tingle shooting through her arm.

"Come on, buddy, you can tell me. I won't tell anyone, promise."

Luna just sighed, picked up her guitar, and walked out of the garage.

She sat on top of the wooden fence separating Sam's yard from her neighbor's. She pulled out her guitar, slung the strap over her shoulder, and started strumming the opening of "Everlong".

Sam walked out and sat down next to her, looking dead serious. "You're worrying me."

Luna sighed. The song was beginning to calm her down as it always did. Her thoughts slowed.

 _OKAY Okay okay._

 _So she's sitting next to you._

 _DON'T PANIC._

 _I'm not. Chill._

 _Just play it cool, and when the song is over, tell her._

Sam asked, "This "Everlong"?"

A bit of Luna's spirit came back into her eyes. "Yep! Wanna sing along?"

Sam thought a moment, then said, "Okay. Can you start over?"

Luna stopped and waited as Sam pulled up the lyrics on her phone. Then she started playing from the beginning.

"Hello, I've waited here for you," Sam began.

 _Sam's got a nice voice. I dunno why she doesn't sing more in band. She's definitely better than me._

They kept up their duet for a minute or so.

"You've got to promise not to stop when I say when."

Luna looked over at Sam.

 _Man, she's beautiful. The light is really catching her hair._

 _I gotta tell her now. I can't wait._

"I... I..." Luna stammered, but she hit a mental block and couldn't say anything more.

 _I can't say it._

 _Then what?_

Sam turned to her, vaguely confused. She began to say, "What..."

Luna let go of her guitar, grabbed Sam by the shoulders, and kissed her on the lips.

After a couple of seconds, she pulled away, returning to her original position. Sam stayed where she was.

Luna looked down at the ground, blushing, ashamed of herself.

She dared a glance back at Sam.

Sam was gazing off into the distance, eyes widened in shock, mouth half-open, blushing bright red.

She finally blinked and looked at Luna and started to say, "I-I... You... Wait. YOU-"

Lucy said from behind Luna, "Luna?"

Luna started, keeping her balance. Sam pitched backwards in shock, arms flailing, and fell off the fence with a thud.

Lucy said, "Sorry."

Sam mumbled, "S'okay."

Lucy turned to Luna. "Mom says dinner is ready and to come get you."

Luna got off the fence with Lucy and started walking down the street back towards her house.

She glanced back briefly. Sam, who had gotten to her feet, looked back and gave a half-hearted wave, smiling faintly.

Lucy turned to Luna and asked, confusion evident on her face, "Were you kissing that girl?"

Luna nodded ashamedly. "You saw, I take it?"

Lucy replied, "Yeah. I was listening to you and her play. You guys were good."

"Thanks, sis."

Luna sighed, then continued. "Hey, listen. Don't tell anyone 'bout what just happened, got it? This is a just-between-you-and-me thing here."

Lucy nodded, smiling compassionately. She then asked, "One more thing. Was that Sam?"

Luna nodded. "Yep."

"She seems nice."

"Yep, she is."

They entered into the Loud house side-by-side.

* * *

 **This chapter is brought to you by the song "Everlong" by Dave Grohl, the picture "Afternoon Duet" by Arkeus165 on DeviantArt, and the letter L!**

 **Thanks again, folks!**

 **See you soon!**


	8. The Next Day

Luna walked into school the next day, feeling anxious.

 _Lunch should be fun today._

She opened her locker, hung up her coat, and fetched her geometry textbook.

She shut the door and noticed Sam standing next to her, looking highly uneasy.

Luna grew uneasy, too. "Uh... What's up?"

Sam looked at her and said, "So, uh... You have a crush on me, I take it?"

Luna nodded, staring at a fascinating spot on the floor.

"You sent me that letter?"

Luna nodded again, now blushing.

"I..." Sam started to say.

She sighed. "Buddy, I hate to break it to you, but..."

 _Oh ****._

"I'm not into girls."

Luna looked up at Sam, distraught.

"Oh," she said, her voice trembling.

 _I TOLD you not to TELL her, you moron!_

 _Well, at least you know now..._

"I'm really sorry, buddy."

Luna looked up at Sam, who looked away.

"It's fine, dude," Luna slowly replied, tears starting to form in her eyes. "I guess... At least I know. At least I know about you, and at least I know that I can stop trying to... trying to fulfill a hopeless fantasy."

She hugged Sam and started to sob. Sam hugged her back.

"Luna... I'm so sorry. You'll find someone else, I'm sure. Someone else like you. I still want to be friends with you, if you don't think it would be too awkward. Uh, by the way, the band meets again tomorrow at 1, so..."

Luna said between sniffles, "This... this is why I fell in love with you. You're so sweet..."

Sam didn't say a word, but Luna heard her softly begin to cry.

...

Luna walked into the cafeteria. She spotted Sam sitting at her normal table with Tall Kate and Mia. Out of habit, she started to walk over to them but stopped short.

 _No. Not now. Not so soon. I can't._

She looked around the cafeteria for a different table to sit at. She spotted Short Kate sitting by herself, drawing in a sketchpad.

Luna walked over to Short Kate and asked, "Uh, can I sit here, Kate?"

Short Kate glanced up and said absent-mindedly, "Yeah, sure," then returned to her sketch.

Luna sat down, unpacked her lunch, and began to eat.

She attempted to listen to what the people at Sam's table were saying.

"...ONE MISPLACED SEMICOLON THE ENTIRE ****ING TIME!"

"Well, the code works now, right?"

"Yeah, but I tried it out and... well, Jill forgot to file down some of the rough edges, so..."

"Oh. Ouch."

"That's a wicked scar."

"Yeah, Henry got really mad at her. I mean, it wasn't really her fault, but..."

Mia happened to glance over and see Luna looking at her. She turned to Sam and asked, "Uh, why isn't Luna sitting with us?"

Luna tuned them out and looked back over at Short Kate.

"What're you drawing?"

Short Kate turned the sketchpad around, displaying a half-finished drawing of a nun wielding a halberd.

"That's pretty good."

"Thanks."

They both proceeded to eat in silence.

...

Luna walked up to her room and shut the door.

She threw her backpack up against the wall and climbed into her bed and burrowed her head under the pillow.

Luan walked in a minute later. "Hey Luna! What's up?"

Luna slowly removed her head from her pillow and turned to face Luan, eyes red and watery. She sighed.

"So, I told Sam yesterday, about my feelings..."

"OOH!" Luan squealed. "What did he-" She stopped upon seeing Luna's sorrowful face. "Oh."

"Sam... she doesn't feel the same way. She was really nice about it, but... It still hurts."

"Oh. I'm sorry, Lunes." Luna stood up, and Luan gave Luna a tight hug.

"Wait. SHE?"

Luna nodded, not daring to meet Luan's gaze. "Yeah. I... I'm bi."

Luan paused for a moment, then smiled warmly. "Okay." She then gazed off into space, lost in thought.

"So, I think I know why you've got such a pleasant temperament all the time. It's 'cause you're GAY! Get it?"

Luna couldn't help but crack a smile at Luan's awful pun. "Well, technically-"

"Eh, screw technicalities! This is comedy! I guess, I was thinking, when you came out, I told myself, 'LESBIAN nice person to her!'"

Luna chuckled. She felt better already.

"Frankly, I thought Lincoln was the not-straight one. I mean, he practically LIVES in a closet!"

Luna and Luan doubled over in laughter.

"I can't believe you made up all of those jokes on the spot!"

"I didn't; I've just been waiting for the right opportunity to use them!"

The two girls finally calmed down and lay on the floor next to each other for a minute.

"So, when are you gonna come out to the rest of the family?"

"Not right now; I've gotta get over Sam first, I think. So don't tell anyone."

"Tell anyone what?" said Mr. Loud, opening the door.

Luna and Luan bolted upright and stared at their father the way a cow stares at an oncoming train.

Luan cracked a small smile after a moment and replied, "That's for me to know and you to find out."

Mr. Loud folded his arms. "Well, I'm finding out right now, smart aleck."

Luna piped up softly, "Uh, how long have you been listening to us?"

Mr. Loud's demeanor changed instantaneously. He smiled compassionately and knelt on the floor next to Luna, placing his hand gently on her shoulder. "Long enough, Lunes."

"Oh. So, uh, so you know, then."

"Yeah. Listen, honey, I love you no matter who or what you are. You're still Luna, and you're still my daughter, and none of that will change, regardless of whether you date a boy or a girl. I'll threaten them with penalty of death if they hurt you all the same."

Luna and Luan chuckled.

Mr. Loud then leaned over and whispered into Luna's ear. "And when Lincoln's older, we can all ogle hot chicks together."

Luna leaned away from him, horrified. "DAD!"

"I was joking! I'm not going to cheat on your mother!"

Luan turned to Luna, flabbergasted, and asked, "What did he say?"

"You don't wanna know."

"I think I do."

Mr. Loud quickly changed the topic. "So, that guy you were talking about a couple of weeks ago, named Sam, was he a girl?"

"Uh, yeah. But... she didn't reciprocate. She's straight."

"Oh. I'm sor-"

Mr. Loud's attempt at consoling his daughter was cut off by his wife bursting through the open door. "What was that I heard about 'cheat on your mother'?"

Luan replied, "Uh... I think Dad was making a joke?"

The rest of the family crowded around the doorway, eager to hear what was happening.

Luna stood up and addressed the family. "So, Dad was making a joke to me about... uh, it's hard to explain."

She took a deep breath before continuing. "Okay. Topic change. So, guys... I'm bisexual."

Lincoln, all the sisters older than him besides Luan, Mrs. Loud, and Lisa all looked momentarily shocked, but then smiled. Lucy merely smiled. Lola and Lana looked at each other, confused. Lily babbled something unintelligible.

Lana asked, "What does that mean?"

Luna responded, "It, uh, it means that I like both guys and girls."

Lola piped up, "Some of my best friends are girls, and I like some guys, too! Am I bye-six-mule, too?"

"No."

Lisa spoke up. "I propose that I perform an experiment to determine your true se-"

"No."

Leni walked over to Luna and gave her a big hug.

Someone yelled, "GROUP HUG!", and the entire family converged on Luna, who was beginning to cry again. This time, they were tears of gratitude.

"Thanks so much, guys..." she said, muffled.

* * *

 **I'm a sick person.**

 **I have drawn that exact same nun. (That is a sentence which I will probably never say again.)**

 **One more chapter, then this story's over!**

 **See you soon!**


	9. Three Weeks Later

**So I only just yesterday learned that Sam's canonical last name is Sharp. (She's appearing in the graphic novels and I came across a DeviantArt screenshot of a canon text description of her THIS IS EXCITING :D ALSO I NEED SLEEP) She canonically has a brother named Simon (not sure if he's older or younger). And she apparently plays the guitar. The description mentioned that she was Luna's "close friend", so I don't know what her canon sexuality is. Yet.**

 **Well, I'm not changing how I portray Sam in my fics, or at least in this one. Just** **thought you ought to know.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Luna hopped out of Alex's car, pulling her guitar case along with her. She grabbed a cymbal and a microphone from the trunk, narrowly dodging Sam's keyboard.

"Woah! Careful there!" she called to Sam.

Sam replied, "Oh! Sorry!" She got a better handhold on the keyboard and backed away from the trunk, grinning sheepishly.

"This way, guys!" called Jamie from a gate in back of his cousins' house. He set down the amp that he was carrying and opened the gate, then picked up the amp again and held the gate for the girls.

As the band set up their equipment on the house's back porch, a short, skinny, blond woman emerged from a sliding glass door. She called out, "JAMIE!" and stretched her arms out for a hug.

Jamie placed his guitar on the ground and ran over to hug his aunt. "Hi, Aunt Sue! How you doing?"

"I'm great! I'm so glad you all could make it here! Why don't you introduce me to the rest of your friends?"

Before Jamie could speak, Jamie's aunt proffered her hand to shake. "Hi, kids! I'm Mrs. Dziewaltowski, but you can call me Mrs. Sue if you want! Thanks for coming over and playing for Brooke! She's so excited about it!"

The three girls introduced themselves and each shook Mrs. Sue's hand. "I'm glad we could make it, ma'am. Thanks for having us," replied Sam.

"Not a problem! Just, don't play too loudly, all right? I'm on good terms with the neighbours!" Mrs. Sue laughed at her own joke.

Luna said to Alex, "YEAH! LET'S CRANK IT UP TO 1.1!"

Wincing, Alex replied, "Not in my ear!"

They all laughed, then the band finished setting up the sound equipment, and Mrs. Sue darted back inside.

As Luna and Jamie started tuning, the children began to arrive.

A little girl with curly blond hair ran over to Jamie and gave him a hug.

"Oh, hey, Brooke! How's it been?" he said.

"It's good."

"So you're nine now, huh? That's OLD! Only one more year until double digits!"

"Yeah! I'm excited to be ten!"

"Hey, don't get ahead of yourself, now! Just take it a year at a time."

"Okay!"

Brooke turned away from her cousin and looked at the other band members. "Are these your band mates?"

"Yeah, they're all my backup singers."

"Hey!" yelled Alex indignantly. "You know I can't sing worth sh- uh, shingles!"

"Nah, you're just there to look good."

"Mm-hm. Sure."

Brooke walked over to Sam and asked her, "What instrument do you play?"

Sam replied with a friendly grin, "I play the keyboard. Wanna see?"

"Sure!" said Brooke, watching her intently.

Sam turned on her keyboard and banged out the first half of "Maple Leaf Rag".

When she finished, Brooke clapped her hands in glee. "That was so cool! I'm learning to play piano, too!"

"Cool! Can you play something for me?"

"Sure!" Brooke walked over to the keyboard and played "Chopsticks".

Sam clapped. "That was pretty good! Keep practicing!"

Brooke smiled and walked over to where one of her friends was beckoning.

 _Huh! The kid gravitated right to her!_

Luna turned to Sam and remarked, "You're good with kids!"

Sam replied, "Summer camp helped."

Alex interjected, "I like kids when they're not mine. That way, when they go home, I don't have to deal with them any longer."

Jamie nodded and said, "True that."

Mrs. Sue strode over to Jamie and asked him, "I think everybody's here now. You want to start playing?"

"Sure! I'm ready if you are, guys!" he said, turning to Luna, Sam, and Alex, who all gave him thumbs-ups. They picked up their instruments. Mrs. Sue walked away to avoid getting in their way.

Jamie stepped over to the microphone, turned it on, and began to speak into it: "Good afternoon, guys!"

The ten or so children all turned to Jamie, listening eagerly.

"My name's Jamie. I'm Brooke's cousin here, and I'm here with my band, The Italians, to play you some music!"

The kids all cheered.

"So, I'm not like your mean teachers who are gonna make you sit quietly while you listen to them. I'll let you talk and move around while we play for you, if you want. And if you have any suggestions on anything that we should play, just feel free to raise your hand and ask! So, without further ado, let's get started! This is "I Want You Back"!"

The band promptly began playing "I Want You Back". Luna sang a near-pitch-perfect Michael Jackson.

 _This is going pretty well! The kids all seem really into it, and we haven't missed many notes!_

After they finished, one boy raised his hand. Luna called on him.

"Isn't this the song from _Guardians of the Galaxy_?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah, it is. How did you know that?" Luna replied, both confused and concerned.

"Uh, there's this TV cartoon where they have the Guardians of the Galaxy characters fighting bad guys and stuff, and the song is in there."

"Oh. Cool. I didn't know that. Uh, anyway, here's "Wonderwall"."

...

Five songs into their repertoire, the band stopped to take a break. Luna set down her guitar in its case and took a drink from a water bottle, while Jamie walked over to watch the kids play Pin the Tail on the Donkey.

Sam remarked, "You know, I never thought my first gig would be for people younger than me."

Luna laughed while replying, "My first gig was for my family on a school recorder."

Sam joked, "I never stopped playing the recorder! I just call it a clarinet now!"

They cracked up.

 _God, Sam's a riot. She's just so gr-_

 _No no no I gotta stop thinking this way._

Luna looked over at the children, who were watching a blindfolded Brooke try to pin a tail onto a cardboard donkey. She laughed to herself as Brooke grew disoriented from being spun around and fell flat on her face. Brooke stood up, unharmed and giggling, a moment later.

 _Phew. It's a good thing she didn't impale herself with the pin. Who the **** thought up this game?_

Luna's gaze drifted away from the kids and to the side of the house, where the parents of some of the children were conversing.

She spotted a black-haired, curvaceous girl with a sullen expression on her pale face sitting hunched up away from the adults, reading a book.

 _That girl_ _'s cute._

 _Maybe I should talk to her._

Luna leaned over to Sam and whispered, "Hey, Sam. You see that girl over there? She's kind of cute."

Sam turned and noticed the girl. She replied, "I suppose some would consider her that."

"You think I should talk to her?"

"If you want. After the game, I think Brooke's going to open presents. So you have time."

"Okay. Cool. I think I'm going for it."

"Good luck, Moon Unit."

 _Heh! "This is Moon Unit to ground control!"_

 _Okay, better focus. I don't want to blow this._

Luna took a deep breath to compose herself, then started to walk over to the girl.

* * *

 **GUESS WHAT! I'M WRITING A SEQUEL! I wasn't going to do one originally (I was just going to end the story where it is), but I thought of a cool idea! I'm postponing work on it, however, to complete a Warrior Cats one-shot. If you like Warrior Cats and parodies thereof, I encourage you to check it out. If you're not interested, that's fine, too.**

 **I'm not entirely sure whether "I Want You Back" is actually in the _Guardians of the Galaxy_ series. Wikipedia was not clear on the matter. Forgive me if I'm wrong.**

 **I hope my description was clear enough that you can guess who the unnamed girl is. :)**

 **So, that's all for this story, but I hope to see you around at some other point!** **It's been real!**

 **-meowloudly15**


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